Comic Book Day: Pull List for May 14, 2014

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It’s only Wednesday, but it’s shaping up to be an awfully great week for comic book fans. What better way to get you excited for a new issue of Batman Eternal than with the dual reveals of the Batmobile and Ben Affleck as Batman in Batman vs. Superman? Valiant Comics also leveled up their variant cover game with some particularly crafty covers. And, to top it all off, we’ve got three pitch perfect picks for you this week to help make your pull list a thing of beauty. So, sit back, relax, and strap in because this Comic Book Day train ain’t stoppin’ for nobody.

Just when I start to feel zombie fatigue, a book like Afterlife with Archie comes along and makes the whole genre feel fresh (or, at the very least, raised from the dead) again. With issue #5, the first major arc of Afterlife with Archie, “Escape from Riverdale”, comes to a conclusion, but not before forcing our heroes to make a series of difficult decisions. Framed through a series of journal entries penned by Smithers, the Mr. Carson-like Lodge family butler, we jump back and forth between the ever-worsening present and choice memories from Smithers’ past – training as a butler under his father, rushing a pregnant Mrs. Lodge to the hospital, swearing an oath to put young Veronica’s interests and welfare above all else. It’s a simple and beautifully complicated relationship that serves as a nice, meditative counterpoint to the bursts of explosive action and mounting horror taking place just outside the Lodge compound.

Once again, Francesco Francavilla proves that he’s a living treasure with some of the best damn artwork you’ll see on store shelves. His style evokes pulp tales of yesteryear in all the right ways without coming off as stale or dated. Moody shadows and a palette awash with muted purples and oranges sets the tone for both the fuzzy warmth of nostalgic recollection and frantic fleeing from the undead. Francavilla’s style seems to be getting increasingly cinematic too. He pulls in close for tight shots on faces during tense conversations and places us just over Archie’s shoulder for some intense reveals in a way that makes us feel like we’re in the Lodge compound with them. Thank our lucky stars that we’re miles away from Jughead and his band of flesh-eating monsters.

One of the smartest things about Afterlife with Archie isn’t the novelty of bringing something as crazy as a zombie apocalypse to Riverdale, but rather the decision to deal with serious themes in a thoughtful, adult manner. Yes, the book is still rife with wry humor and hormone-charged teenage antics, but you get the palpable sense that this is a crucible of sorts through which the youthful denizens of Riverdale, especially Archie Andrews, are being forged into adults. Killing your own father with a baseball bat to protect your mother tends to have that effect on a person, after all. Whereas The Walking Dead occasionally seems to traffic in cheap thrills, each death and each difficult decision in Afterlife with Archie feels earned. A zombie kill is not a joyous occasion for fist-pumping; it is a former friend, a co-worker, a family member that they have to kill all over again. If you wanted some food for thought, Aguirre-Sacasa and Francavilla have delivered a veritable feast. All you have to do is turn the page.

Superman: Doomed #1 is the first chapter in an event set to play out over the course of the next month in the Superman family of titles, pitting Supes against the alien monster Doomsday, who killed him back in the day (or did he? I’m still not 100% sure if Superman died or not in the New 52. I’m leaning towards yes though.) In this new iteration of Doomsday, he’s not just some kind of giant brawler like he was before. Nope, this is a more dangerous and lethal version than before, and just his presence on Earth causes death and destruction. When he appears on Earth this time, he lands on a small island in the Bahamas, where just his being there burns away and eradicates all lifeforms near by, including thousands of people. It’s kind of a gnarly scene for a Superman book.

I was kind of expecting to not like this comic, frankly because I’ve always found Doomsday to be more of a gimmick than a character, going back to when he first killed Superman twenty years ago. but I found myself kind of liking this story. Writers Scott Lobdell, Charles Soule and Greg Pak are smart to utilize Doomsday as a catalyst for Superman to make some hard decisions about his own moral code. How can he not justify killing this thing when just its presence literally murders innocents? And when he tries another solution, and it fails, aren’t all those lives on his head now? A lot of the actions of this book seem to be a response from DC to the controversy over Superman killing Zod in last year’s Man of Steel. I think it’s cool for DC to acknowledge that there is a conversation to be had at least about Superman using lethal force.

The writing and plotting on this one is slightly haphazard, but it gets the job done in setting this whole event up. Less haphazard is the art by Ken Lashley, who is doing some fine work here. He’s an artist who has been around a while, but this is the best I’ve ever liked his art, even if it’s the 90’s Image throwback art that’s popular right now. While this isn’t the greatest or most original comic out right now, it’s worth a read, especially if you’re a Superman fan.

Quantum and Woody #10 | Valiant | James Asmus and Kano

Review by Charles Webb

It’s the break up we’ve been waiting for. Ever since the mismatched pair of adoptive brothers that make up Quantum and Woody started their run at pseudo-heroism Eric has taken it more seriously than Woody. Last issue saw Eric (the responsible one) attempt to get his brother on the straight and narrow in order to prove the latter could be trusted with his half of their father’s inheritance. That didn’t go so well, and now Woody’s about that criminal life again, hooking up with his very sketchy ex Jacklean, and strolling into the Smithsonian for a little magical grand larceny.

The heist ends up making this issue of Quantum and Woody a stealth Shadowman crossover (it’s a shared universe, after all) and Asmus plays with the supernatural corner of the Valiant U (I appreciate the clash of tones here between the normally ultra-serious supernatural Valiant U and the more freewheeling sci-fi side). It’s also the second act in the Quantum/Woody breakup which will, of course, be reversed at some point, but for the moment seeing the two of them finally getting all of that pent-up anger out is cathartic (Woody definitely needs a super powered smack).

On art, Kano strikes a great balance between exaggerated cartoon action and straight up super heroics – it’s a tricky balance, but Kano’s art sells the humor and the action. He also does “gross” pretty well (see the bit when the heist goes wrong for what I’m talking about). Is Kano handling the colors here too? Because those are pretty great as well.